RuPaul

You betta work!...the streets? Rupaul returns to the big screen as a supermodel/secret agent who goes undercover as a hooker in the Reeling Film Festival selection “Starrbooty”. The drag icon sat down and gave me the dish on his scandalous new flick as well the what inspired the birth of the fierce crime fighting prostitute known as Starrbooty.

JB: You've blown us away in Chi-town quite a few times, are you excited to be paying another visit to the Midwest?

R: Chicago has always played a pivotal part in my career and I am sincerely thankful and grateful to Chicago for that. When I plan my itinerary, it will always involve Chicago.

JB: How was Starrbooty born?

R: 20 years ago I wanted to pay homage to one of my favorite filmmakers, John Waters and at the same time take a page from the blaxploitiation films I loved as a kid. Starrbooty is a character that feels very comfortable in both genres.

JB: I feel a little Pam Grier funkadelic in this film, is that what you were going for?

R: Absolutely, I've always loved the Pam Grier films but I was completely moved by Tamara Dobson in Cleopatra Jones. When I was 12 years old, I sent the only fan letter I've ever written to Tamara Dobson.

JB: You've got some crazy hair and get ups in this film. Who put together the "Starrbooty" look and what inspired it?

R: Well the look was inspired by the Mary Jane Girls. The wardrobe represents all of my favorite looks that I've seen street hookers serving for the past 20 years.

JB: Did director Mike Ruiz translate your vision of the characters and the story to the big screen the way you had hoped?

R: Absolutely! Even more so. Mike is a true visionary. He's great to work with, loads of laughs and he ain't bad on the eye either.

JB: Give us a taste of this campy flick, what are some of the outrageous, over the top scenes you filmed?

R: I loved being able to shoot off Michael Lucas' 11-inch cock with a machine gun and turning a trick with a priest who gets off on smelling farts and of course the cock-and-ball torture scene I did with Owen Hawk just to name a few.

JB: I know you have some hot cameos in the movie, who are some of the faces that pop up during the film?

R: The movie has everything I love about movies: gratuitous hair and make-up, inappropriate nudity and violence and ridiculous over the top dialogue.

JB: Does Starrbooty come with an equally bootylicious soundtrack?

R: Yes, and I think it's my best work yet. I wrote all of the songs on the soundtrack and even composed the score for the movie. Talk about your one stop shopping.

Rupaul struts into Chicago Wednesday, Nov. 14 for the Midwestern premier of “Starrbooty” at the Lakeshore Theatre, 3175 N. Broadway. Want more booty? Then head to Circuit Night Club Thursday, Nov 15 at 10:30 p.m. for the DVD signing.

I'm almost 100% confident that I saw who we now know as RuPaul perform as Starbooty at Kaboom nightclub on Chicago & Halsted in the early to mid nineties. This was before the name RuPaul ever existed. Does anyone else recall this?